From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishonomatopoeiaon‧o‧mat‧o‧poe‧ia /ˌɒnəmætəˈpiːə $ ˌɑːn-/ noun [uncountable] technicalSLthe use of words that sound like the thing that they are describing, for example ‘hiss’ or ‘boom’ —onomatopoeic adjective